News Advisory

10/7/04

Dr. Cleatus Rattan, 2004 Poet Laureate of Texas, will discuss his views on poetry and read several selections on Friday, Oct. 29, at 1:30 p.m., at The University of Texas at Dallas’ Eugene McDermott Library as a part of the Library Lecture Series.

The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will be held in the library’s auditorium

Dr. Cleatus Rattan

(MC 2.410). Rattan, a native of Dallas, holds the Mayborn Chair of Arts and Sciences and is a visiting professor of English at the University of Mary-Hardin Baylor in Belton, Texas.

In his presentation at UTD, Rattan will explain why he believes poetry is an inductive process rather than a deductive one. His poems employ a variety of forms including the English sonnet, the Italian sonnet and the villanelle, as well as free verse. Among his favorite subjects are family life, ranching, teaching English and human nature. His latest published collection is The Border.

Rattan taught for 35 years at Cisco Junior College. He has degrees from the University of North Texas, Texas A&M-Commerce and Southern Methodist University. He currently devotes his time to writing monographs, essays and poetry. Rattan has written three books of poetry and numerous short stories and has had more than 250 poems published in journals and anthologies. In 2002, he received both the New Texas Poetry Award and the Texas Review Poetry Prize. He was named Texas’ Poet Laureate for 2004 by the Texas Commission on the Arts, and his appointment was ratified by the State Legislature.